The Flash 3×10 Review – Team Flash is “Borrowing Problems from the Future”

The Flash is back and this week was all about the domino effect, so to speak. Team Flash played the “what if” game regarding Iris’ future, and the results are actually more uplifting than I expected. So let’s jump into the time stream and see what happens.

Madcap Recap

Savitar kills Iris. Again and again and again if this episode’s use of that footage is any indication.

Barry and Iris’ loft is soooo nice. Which is why I have a really hard time believing they can afford it.

Barry is taking his anger issues out on Wally; Wally just came out to have a good time and is honestly feeling so attacked right now.

Barry actually admitted to the team that Iris might die in the future. And is accepting their help! There’s hope for him yet.

Kid Flash gets a coming out party! His present is to Plunder the booty. Or Booty the Plunder. Wait, I mean, what?

Julian gets to join the team! Isn’t that nice? Here’s hoping his new team doesn’t end up like the old one.

Exposition News Crawl! We get some fun hints on Killer Frost, Music Meister, Grodd, etc.

We gotta go back to the future, Marty Barry! At least we have a vibe-y road map of sorts.

Wait, the episode ended kind of happily? This cannot bode well for the future.

They see HR rolling, they hatin’. [Source: The CW Network, LLC]

Where Will Iris’s Domino Fall?

This episode was pretty heavily focused on dealing with Iris’ impending doom. The whole team found out (including Iris herself!) and started working on a plan to stop it. Even with such a gloomy focus, this episode had an overall upbeat feel. It was a welcome relief from how dark this season has felt, but it does set me a little on edge. Things don’t tend to stay happy for long, and they’ll be all the sadder for how optimistic the characters are now. With Wally arresting Plunder instead of Barry, things seems hopeful that the future can be altered. But as we know, so much can go wrong, and time travel is as tricky as it is scary.

I have no doubt that the team will run into many roadblocks on the way to saving Iris from Savitar. For all we know, altering events will only kill her faster. But Savitar is our big bad, and facing off against him will be a lengthy process. So you’re safe for now Iris. For now…

Versus battles are all the rage these days. Dare I suggest we’ll get a Flash Vs Kid Flash episode? [Source: The CW Network, LLC]

Run, Wally, Run!

Wally got to steal some of Barry’s thunder this week, but in a good way. He officially became Kid Flash and has won over (most of) Central City. It was fun to see Wally and Barry working together, despite Barry snapping at Wally about his lack of experience. These two have an interesting dynamic building between them, which will very likely be used to test them in upcoming episodes. They won’t always get along. At some point, Iris may be forced to take sides between her brother and her brother/lover. Uhh… that came out a little too weird. Anyway, I foresee a lot of opportunities to make these two speedsters clash, even though they’ll both be doing their best to do the right thing.

Messing with the Future

The Flash has dealt with a lot of time travel before, but it many cases it has looked to the past and worried about changes affecting the present. Now, looking to alter the future, the team is hopeful. And why wouldn’t they be? The future is often seen as something that can be full of hope and promise. The problem is, The Flash has been building its world around the Butterfly Effect. THat’s why Flashpoint happened, But now it’s trying to introduce the possibility that the future has a will of its own; it wants to happen in a certain way. Having an argument of fate versus free will with time travel is tempting all sorts of problems with the story, especially when it’s already hard to keep track.

The more the merrier on Team Flash! [Source: The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.]

Julian and Caitlin

I’m . . . honestly not sure what the point of having Julian join Team Flash is. Don’t misunderstand, I like his character. But he’s already fulfilled the role he was introduced for, and now he just seems like an extra body on an already full superhero team. I suppose time will tell how he really fits in.

The one thing that did work for me was Julian’s interaction with Caitlin. Now, it was bothersome for her to so eagerly reassure him that the team would be happy to have him on board, but considering how desperate she is to get help on her Killer Frost problem, it’s understandable. But hey, at least they made amends by the end.

Iris’ doesn’t have much time left. [Source: The CW Network, LLC]

Cisco, HR, and Final Thoughts

Even Cisco and HR wound up getting along by the end of this episode. Their dynamic is also very entertaining, especially since this latest version of Wells is so silly in comparison to previous ones. He’s fun and means well, which is something Cisco eventually sees in regard to the museum. And speaking of Cisco, his vining came in very handy this week. As usual, scenes between our core Team Flash make up for lackluster plot (amen, Plunder conflict, amen).

So all in all, it was a decent episode that dropped some hints about what’s to come. We have a fair amount of stories to get through before the final showdown with Savitar, and I’m hopeful that they’ll be good. It wasn’t a standout episode, but it did lay some nice groundwork for the second half of Season Three.

What did you think of the episode? Share your thoughts in the comments!

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Alisha is a novelist, marketing copywriter, Sci-Fi/Fantasy enthusiast, and all-around geeky girl. She loves to travel, attend conventions, play with her cat and dog, and otherwise enjoy life. When Alisha isn’t writing and reading books, she’s usually playing games (both video and board varieties) or watching TV. Visit her online at www.alishabmarie.wordpress.com, or follow her on Twitter: @alishabmarie